Auxiliary door lock

ABSTRACT

An auxiliary door lock including a generally cup-shaped door knob cover, a resilient band held along the inner wall surface of the cover, and a locking means connectable adjacent the ends of the band that project from the cover to hold the band in tension in engagement with the door knob shaft behind the door knob. The door knob cover includes a band connecting means for holding one portion of the band against a portion of the inner wall surface opposite the band exit opening.

United States Patent 1191 1111 3 739 608 9 9 Young June 19, 1973 1 1 AUXILIARY DOOR LOCK 1,168,394 1/1916 Hastings et al 24 211 L 2,134,922 11/1938 Laing g w12 z:i 27 2,883,850 4 1959 Falck 70 431 ee 1 0 a s,

[22] Filed: Au 18, 1971 Primary Examiner-Albert G. Crai Jr.

8 g 1 pp 172 718 Attorney-Eugene F. Malin 57 ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl 70/209, 70/428, 70/DIG. 58 l l 511 Int. Cl E05h 13/00 aux'lary lock mclud'ng generally [58] Field of Search 70/16 18 19 181 1 door knob cover a miner" hand held along the 70/209 2]] 212 232 416 inner wall surface of the cover, and a locking means DIG 6 R l 1 18 i connectable adjacent the ends of the band that project 292/25660 25655 from the cover to hold the band in tension in engagement with the door knob shaft behind the door knob. [56] References Cited The door knob cover includes a band connecting means for holding one portion of the hand against a 5 71 UNLTED 'Z PATENTS portion of the inner wall surface opposite the band exit 3, 56,5 1/1 71 Lau ,Jr 292/1 3,206,955 9/1965 Horovitz... 70/163 Openmg 949,900 2/1910 Jackson .1 269/3 3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures AUXILIARY DOOR LOCK BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a new and improved three part auxiliary door lock, and, more particularly, to an auxiliary door lock including a cup-shaped cover, a resilient band in the cover with ends projecting out of the cover, and a locking means.

As is perhaps well known, many different types of auxiliary door locks have been designed in the past to secure door knobs of hotel and motel rooms. Auxiliary door locks are useful to prevent persons with old keys or pass keys from gaining entry to a rented room. Such auxiliary door locks may be used to protect ones valuables left in a hotel or motel room. Many of the prior art devices have been complex in design and include a large number of parts. Such devices are costly to manufacture. Other prior art devices are cumbersome to operate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a new and improved auxiliary door lock that includes a generally cupshaped door knob cover, a long-flat, thin resilient band having a plurality of openings in the ends of the bands, and a locking means connectable to the openings in the ends of the band that project out of the cover. The resilient band is bent and placed in the cover to lie along the inner wall surface of the cover. The ends of the resilient band are threaded through exit openings in the cover. The resilient band is held in the cover by a connecting means on the side opposite the exit openings. The spring-like band presses itself along the inner wall surface of the cover as the auxiliary door lock is placed over a door knob and a portion of the door knob shaft. The projecting ends of the resilient band are pulled outwardly to draw the flat sides of the door knob shaft behind the door knob. An ordinary pad lock may be passed through the openings in each end of the resilient band adjacent the cover to secure the band in a position in engagement against the door knob shaft.

It is' an object of this invention to provide a noncomplex auxiliary door knob locking means having a minimum number of components.

It is another object of this invention to provide a three piece auxiliary door lock that may be used to secure an ordinary door knob.

A further object of this invention is to provide a lowcost auxiliary door knob locking means.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a cup-shaped door knob cover with a resilient securing band in the cover, and a lock for grasping the protruding ends of the resilient band to place the flat portion of the resilient band against the door knob shaft behind the door knob.

In accordance with these and other objects which will be apparent hereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with particular reference to the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a side view of an auxiliary door lock,

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional front view of the auxiliary door lock showing the strap in a position for passing the auxiliary door look over a door knob,

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the auxiliary door lock shown in FIG. 2 with the resilient band locked in position against the door knob shaft behind the door knob,

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of an alternate embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of an alternate embodiment including a rigid member for engaging the door knob shaft.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now in detail to the drawing, wherein the preferred embodiments of the invention are shown, and referring particularly, to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the auxiliary door lock, generally designated by numeral 2, includes a door knob cover 4, and engaging member 6, and a locking means 8. The door knob cover is a generally cup-shaped device for covering the door knob 10 and at least a portion of the door knob shaft 12 between the door knob 10 and the door 14. The door knob cover 4 includes a holding or connecting means 16 on one side of the door knob cover for holding the engaging mern ber 6 shown as a long-flat thin resilient band in the cover. The door knob cover 4 includes a band exit opening or openings 18 and 20 adjacent the side opposite the connecting means 16. The resilient band 6 protrudes out of the door knob cover through the exit openings 18 and 20. The resilient band, in a preferred embodiment, has a plurality of openings 22 adjacent each end of the band.

The major portion of the resilient band 6 normally lies against the inner wall surface of the cover as shown in FIG. 2. The resilient band may be manipulated by grasping the portion of the band protruding out of the cover 4. The protruding portion may be manipulated to move the band from a first installation position against the inner wall surface to a second locked position with the flat portion of the resilient band in engagement with the flat portion of the resilient band in engagement with the door knob shaft 12 behind the door knob 10. The bar of the pad lock 8 is connected through the holes 2Z in the strap adjacent the cover to secure the auxiliary door lock on the door knob. The distal projecting ends of the resilient band 6 may be held against one another by a clip shown by numeral 24.

In order to make it easier to place the bar or shackle of the pad lock through each opening in each end of the band, an elongated tube 26 may be connected to the cover 4. As the shackle passes through the tube 26 it will move straight across the gap into the second hole.

In FIG. 4 the holding means 30 is. shown as two openings in the top of the cover. One protruding end of the resilient band 6 is secured in the second exit opening 34 in the cover 4. In this embodiment only the second protruding end 36 of the resilient band is secured by lock 8. The extreme end of the protruding band portion 36 may be hook-shaped, as shown at 38, to aid the user in moving the band into a locked position against the door knob shaft.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the cover 4 includes an end opening 40, an elbow opening 42, and an exit opening 44. The rigid shaft engaging means 46 has an enlarged end portion 50 that is secured in place by lock 52. The distal end of the rigid shaft includes lock engaging teeth 54. The rigid shaft is shown in FIG. 5 in a locked position about the door knob shaft 12. To remove the auziliary lock, the rigid shaft is moved about enlarged end 48 moving elbow portion 56 out through opening 42 and moving the distal end of the rigid shaft into the cover.

The connecting means 16 may be formed as shown in FIG. 4 by punching two holes or slots 30 in the cover and bending the intermediate portion downward into the cover. The band will normally lie in a generally circular path about the center line 60 of the cover similar to the perimeter of the top 58 of the cover.

The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:

1. An auxiliary door lock for a door knob and a portion of said door knob shaft comprising;

a generally cup shaped cover having a top to cover the front ofa door knob and a side wall to cover the outer rim of the door knob,

said cover sized to fit over the door knob and at least a portion of the door knob shaft, and

a resilient member moveably connected to said cover, said resilient member normally biased in a first position adjacent the inner wall surface of said cover to allow said cover and said resilient member to be moved over the door knob,

said resilient member positionable in a second position inwardly and away from said side wall with at least one portion of said resilient member positioned to engage the rear surface of the door knob to prevent removal of said cover and said resilient member, said resilient member includes an actuating portion projecting out of said cover for actuating said resilient member into said second position, and said actuating portion includes locking means to allow said resilient member to be in said second position.

2. An auxiliary door lock for a door knob and a portion of said door knob shaft as set forth in claim 1, wherein;

said resilient member is a resilient band with a length greater than the perimeter of said top.

3. An auxiliary door lock for a door knob and a portion of said knob shaft as set forth in claim 2, wherein;

said resilient member is generally inflexable when a force is applied in the direction of the width axis of the band. 

1. An auxiliary door lock for a door knob and a portion of said door knob shaft comprising; a generally cup shaped cover having a top to cover the front of a door knob and a side wall to cover the outer rim of the door knob, said cover sized to fit over the door knob and at least a portion of the door knob shaft, and a resilient member moveably connected to said cover, said resilient member normally biased in a first position adjacent the inner wall surface of said cover to allow said cover and said resilient member to be moved over the door knob, said resilient member positionable in a second position inwardly and away from said side wall with at least one portion of said resilient member positioned to engage the rear surface of the door knob to prevent removal of said cover and said resilient member, said resilient member includes an actuating portion projecting out of said cover for actuating said resilient member into said second position, and said actuating portion includes locking means to allow said resilient member to be in said second position.
 2. An auxiliary door lock for a door knob and a portion of said door knob shaft as set forth in claim 1, wherein; said resilient member is a resilient band with a length greater than the perimeter of said top.
 3. An auxiliary door lock for a door knob and a portion of said knob shaft as set forth in claim 2, wherein; said resilient member is generally inflexable when a force is applied in the direction of the width axis of the band. 